I have re-discovered some early shibari photos from Japan, dating up to 70 years ago, from Kitan Club, their most popular SM magazine for decades. Unfortunately, a link to a large archive I posted some years back is no longer functioning, as is often the way with 3rd party links. However, I just came across these on CVLT Nation, plus more listed below.
The influence of Kitan Club
This publication was iconic in bringing shibari photos to the public. In fact, back in the 50s, I believe Kitan Club was the first to use the word ‘kinbaku’ in print. As far as I know, ‘kinbaku’, meaning literally ‘tight binding’, was not known as a way to describe rope bondage prior to this, just everyday things that had been ‘tightly bound’. e.g. a bundle of newspapers. I have no idea whether Kitan Club originated this usage or merely printed a word that was used colloquially amongst aficionados.
For many, Kitan Club was the main source of kinbaku images for many years. Later, SM Sniper became another popular publication, until it finally fell victim to the internet and closed in January 2009.
The surprise
What might surprise you about these photos is how much shibari, or kinbaku, has changed in Japan and how similar some of these early examples are to our own early fumblings. The contrast between the very rudimentary ties shown in Kitan Club is massive when compared to the top names in Japan today, such as Nawashi Kanna below.
More Kitan Club resources
I thought I’d do a bit more research as find some more vintage shibari from Kitan Club. Here are some new links:
Photographs Ltd.
Kitan Club on Facebook
Justscreenshots on Tumblr
